Our Mission:
The Friends of Daggett Farm aim to protect, maintain, and improve our therapeutic garden so we can provide accessible and educational activities for people of all ability levels.
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About Us
The Friends of Daggett Farm is a group of volunteer URI Master Gardeners working to save the therapeutic horticultural Garden at Daggett Farm (which is located on public land in Slater Park in Pawtucket, RI).
The Garden at Daggett Farm was started by horticultural therapist Anna McLaughlin in 1999. Anna, who at the time worked for the ARC of Blackstone Valley, built the gardens to be accessible to people of all ability levels—using upcycled jungle gym equipment, donated tables and carts, hard pack paths and brick ramps for wheelchair access, raised beds of varying heights, and adaptive tools. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19 and changes to DOJ guidance about what constitutes "therapy", the garden has lost its programmatic focus and funding over the past two years.
The Friends of Daggett Farm is a new group, formed by folks with a passion for accessibility, horticultural therapy, and inclusive educational programming. We are working to save the Garden and raise the funds needed to keep the Garden an accessible, inclusive space. Our goal is to return to the Garden's original purpose of providing therapeutic and educational activities for people of all ability levels.
Visit the homepage to donate wish list items.
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Our Role
For over 20 years, Anna McLaughlin’s dedication as program director and horticultural therapist at The Arc of Blackstone Valley has transformed Slater Park’s old Zoo site into a beautiful place for residents and visitors. The Garden’s mission is to provide Horticultural Therapy to people with disabilities to improve physical, mental, and emotional well-being.
As Friends of Daggett Farm, we want to:
Meet with visitors to the garden
Provide information
Maintain gardens: water, weed, divide, plant, mulch
Facilitate school tours and open houses
Maintain and improve garden accessibility
Serving a diverse community
We are working to provide therapeutic and educational activities for people of all ability levels, including people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and all those who would benefit from community-based horticultural activities.
Currently, we are working to provide programming for various groups of people, including students and youth. Please join our email list to be notified of any upcoming programs. Right now:
The Garden is open to the public
Local school groups are invited to learn about gardening techniques.
Visitors of all ages can come for self-guided tours and look for plant identification signs.
Accessibility
The garden features raised beds of varying heights, and with a lip that a wheelchair user could pull up to and reach with ease
Shady areas for relief from the sun, especially for people who are on sun-sensitizing medication
Wide paths covered with hard pack offer a stable surface for those using mobility aids while offering a permeable surface for rainwater drainage
Fabric-covered areas prevent weed growth and smooth the ground for those using mobility aids
Horticultural Therapy
Horticultural therapy is a time-proven practice. The therapeutic benefits of garden environments have been documented since ancient times. Today, horticultural therapy is accepted as a beneficial and effective therapeutic modality. It is widely used within a broad range of rehabilitative, vocational, and community settings. Horticultural therapy techniques are employed to assist participants to learn new skills or regain those that are lost. Horticultural therapy helps improve memory, cognitive abilities, task initiation, language skills, and socialization. In physical rehabilitation, horticultural therapy can help strengthen muscles and improve coordination, balance, and endurance. In vocational horticultural therapy settings, people learn to work independently, problem solve, and follow directions. Horticultural therapists are professionals with specific education, training, and credentials in the use of horticulture for therapy and rehabilitation. - ahta.org
Theraputic Gardens
These gardens are specifically designed to address a variety of applications within healthcare, rehabilitative and other therapeutic settings. A therapeutic garden is a plant-dominated environment purposefully designed to facilitate interaction with the healing elements of nature. Interactions can be passive or active depending on the garden design and users’ needs.
What makes a garden therapeutic? The basic features of a therapeutic garden can include wide and gently graded accessible entrances and paths, raised planting beds and containers, and a sensory-oriented plant selection focused on color, texture, and fragrance. Learn more by reading AHTA's characteristics of therapeutic gardens. - ahta.org
Volunteers are welcomed and needed!
The Friends of Daggett Farm are a friendly, hardworking crew that meets every Wednesday from 9am-12pm. Stop by any Wednesday morning to meet us and join in. If that doesn’t work for your schedule, other days can be arranged, email friendsofdaggettfarm@gmail.com.
Garden Timeline
1999
Anna McLaughlin establishes the 3200-square-foot garden and greenhouse program offering horticultural therapy activities with the Arc of Blackstone Valley.
2000s
2000 - Northeast Chapter: American Horticultural Therapy Association, Program of Excellence Award
2003 - Became a URI Master Gardener community project; master gardeners raise 3000 to 4000 plant plugs in the greenhouse each spring until 2019
2007 - The Arc of Blackstone Valley, Professional of the Year Anna McLaughlin
2008 - Community Provider Network of Rhode Island, Professional Recognition, Anna McLaughlin
2008 - Daggett Farm featured in the Pawtucket Valley Breeze
2010s
2015 - Shed rebuilt
2016 - Pawtucket Hall of Fame, Inductee Anna McLaughlin
2017 - URI Master Gardeners Honorable Mention
2018 - Gazebo renovated
2019 - Master Gardeners made a landscape design plan
2020s
2020 - Greenhouse and giftshop ceases operation
2020 - Master Gardeners renovated the gazebo garden
2022 - The Friends of Daggett Farm volunteer group forms and renames the project ‘The Garden at Daggett Farm’
American Horticultural Society
The Arc of Blackstone Valley
City of Pawtucket Parks & Recreation Department
URI Master Gardeners
Davies Career & Technical High